The invention pertains to the field of spas and, more particularly, to field of spa jet aerators.
It has been known in the prior art that when a water jet of a first predetermined cross-sectional area is directed into an aeration chamber of a larger cross-sectional area which is vented to the atmosphere or to an air blower, the water jet venturi effect will tend to suck air into the chamber and entrain bubbles into the water jet stream.
It has also been known to individually control the water and air access to such an aeration chamber or outlet channel. However such mechanisms can become nonfunctional for certain positions of the water and air valves during ganged operation. For example, suppose two aerators are connected to the same air and water manifolds and the water valve in the first is moved to cut off substantially all but not all water flow while the air valve is left open and the other water valve is left fully open. If the air valves of both aerators are left open, then the suction created by the aerator that has the water fully on can suck water from the aeration chamber of the first valve into the air manifold and cause the air passageways to conduct water, thereby destroying the effectiveness of the aerator. It is an object of the present invention to eliminate this problem as well as provide adequate control of the air and water flow to provide a wide variety of mixtures of relative air and water flow.
It is also an object of the present invention to eliminate the problem of binding of the valve adjustment action by distortion and stress in the aerator body and mounting flanges caused by clamping forces of the aerator to the spa wall. This object is accomplished by placement of the valve adjustment threads at a location remote from the location of the threads for the clamping mechanism thereby isolating the valve adjusting action from the stresses of clamping the aerator body to a curved spa wall.